136 THE REDISCOVERED COUNTRY 



line measurement in length. Very heavy beast, must 

 have gone well up between 500 and 700 pounds. 



Then Memba Sasa and I began to figure over the 

 incident. A wounded lion, or a cornered lion, or even 

 a lion that has been followed until he has become 

 annoyed, will attack practically every time. But what 

 had induced this old fool to pop out at us so savagely? 

 We were walking along attending to our own business, 

 which had nothing to do with him. In my African 

 experiences I have, up to now, seen 103 wild lions; and 

 Memba Sasa has, of course, seen many more; but this 

 was the first instance of its kind for either of us. So 

 interested did we get that we determined to back- 

 track the beast. 



The trail led us immediately into a dense, low, shady 

 thicket. Bending half over, we crawled cautiously in. 

 A low snarl and the half-guessed yellow of a gliding 

 body warned us that the bower — for it was a bower, a 

 shady, pleasant, cool little arching bower — was already 

 occupied. Crouching low, I peered as hard as I could, 

 but did not succeed in getting another sight of the 

 beast. We crawled in farther. 



A dead zebra lay on its belly, all four legs stretched 

 back. Evidently it had been dragged bodily by the 

 head or neck. Think of the strength required for 

 this feat! We examined it. Except for the marks of 

 its killing, its skin was unbroken. A wide swath 

 through the brush led us out of the thicket and fully 



